Just another quasi-satirical book about an American man who marries into the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya and then travels there to meet the family, experience the culture, piss off the Maasai, and go on safari.

Overview

American artist Todd Lane, noted for his edgy comic strip Protoblast and his exacting, lifelike wildlife sculptures, enters the literary world with his first book, An American Mzungu in Kenya. In this volume he details his adventures in Kenya while getting to know his married family and culture for the first time. Todd vividly and expertly describes the environment he finds himself in and the experiences he has while there -- humorous, marvelous, angering; sometimes flattering, sometimes deprecating, always honest.

The 164-page volume details his travels over three weeks during the 2004 holidays, relating both the day-to-day activities of his family from the view of a newcomer, and the wonder of the wildlife preserves and Maasai culture that dominate the minds of foreign travellers thinking of east Africa. American Mzungu includes many sidebars and excerpts providing more in-depth information about certain aspects of Kenyan culture and African wildlife. It also includes a special section by Jaimie Tanner, noted hyena expert, offering many insights on this oft-misjudged carnivore. Extra features include appendices on the Kenyan perspective of America, Kenyan proverbs, and facts about Kenya.

But any book by an artist will present far more than text alone. Todd brings to life the people he met, the places he saw, and the animals he studied with 49 original drawings and 40 photographs. These impressions of Kenya are given generous space in the volume to create a sensual experience of riveting storytelling and expressive illustration with every turn of the page.

ISBN 1-932295-14-3 Todd Lane Artwork and photography by Todd Lane

Introduction by the Author

By far, the most difficult aspect of writing this book was the knowledge that most of the people I’ve written about would be reading it. That created a nagging temptation to only describe my many positive experiences while in Kenya in an effort to please my family and friends. But that would have been an impossible task.

It was more important that I wrote as honestly as I possibly could and allowed the story to dictate how it was to be told. Anything short of that would have made for a patronizing and above all, boring read.

With that said, if this book meets the Kenyan standard for authenticity, then it is a success.

I have no formal training as a writer and my research for this book definitely cannot be characterized as in-depth. But I have been married to a Kenyan for over eight years and have gotten to know many Kenyans during that time. What I’ve done here is compile several of the anecdotes that have been told to me by the people I’ve met and added plenty of my own observations from spending three weeks in this amazing country.

I also think it’s important to point out that since the family I’ve married into is Kenyan, I have been exposed to this rich culture in a way that no tourist could ever hope to be. And for that I am extremely grateful.

It may seem a little bit confusing to the American reader at first, but in this book I don’t refer to my Kenyan family members as “in-laws.” Kenyans don’t usually use the term. My wife’s father doesn’t consider me his son-in-law. In his words, I am his “eldest son.” In that way, (and maybe only that way) Kenyans are more informal than Americans.

You may be wondering where a working-class American man of Finnish and Irish descent meets an educated, worldly, and trilingual Kenyan woman? Well, I met her at a German restaurant in Olney, Maryland. Now what could be more American than that?